Too Much of a Good Thing?

Since so many people have messaged me to demand more beach and Aruba photos, I’ll bow to the pressure and put just two more up. Then, we’re going back to Spain. But we’re still in Aruba for now, going to one of my favorite spots to snorkel. This is an area known as Mango Halto (which can be spelled many different ways) also known as Spanish Lagoon. This area features a dramatic cliff that drops straight to the water. The ocean is buffered by a reef located about two hundred yards from the cliff. Some nice soul cut a stairway down the cliff to a spot where you can don your gear and get in the water.

The mast (flagpole) and landscaping here was installed by a local fellow who wants to keep the spot as a pleasant retreat for those who appreciate the opportunity to enjoy nature’s beauty. People respect this, leaving it as they found it, clean and tidy. That boardwalk leads to the stairs down to the ocean.

The snorkeling along the cliff is average. There are usually a bunch of fish but very few spots of coral. Nonetheless, if you go out toward the reef you’ll find all sorts of coral including fans. The fish swimming here are the brilliantly colored types that are never boring. Sometimes the choppy waves make the swimming a challenge. Early in the morning is the best time to go.

Then after some awesome ocean viewing, you come back up the stairs and take a seat here:

You can see this is a comfortable spot for two. Here you can dry off, relax, maybe enjoy your favorite beverage. Just one more reason why so many people love Aruba, and rightly so.

There’s a small hotel within a two minute walk of Mango Alto. It’s called the Sea Breeze, and it is a charming bit of Caribbean hospitality. They have a small swimming pool in the courtyard, a barbecue, and a bar. It’s the type of place to stay when you want to get away from the crush of the high-rise hotels, when you want to get back to the basics. Isn’t that why you came to a Caribbean island in the first place?

Published in: on June 17, 2008 at 12:57 pm  Comments (1)  
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A Beach of Your Own?

Have you ever wanted a beach of your own? Or maybe just a beach all to yourself for a day? Well, take a look at the photo below. Can you see yourself there?

If you look carefully, you can see a small structure at the very edge of the left side of the frame. This is a little pavilion constructed on the bit of land that is only two feet above the ocean’s surface. Think about yourself and a few close friends having a small party out there. Simple, beautiful, perfect. This is the beach in Savaneta, Aruba. Most weekdays, you might find a few people here during the day. A fisherman or two pass by with hand nets, catching bait fish that the pelicans don’t scoop up. On weekends, the Arubans camp out with their families.

There are actually two beaches, each of them framed by mangroves. They aren’t very big, maybe a hundred yards long. The nearby ocean is quite shallow, perhaps 15 feet at its deepest, all the way to reef. After the reef, the topography drops off to deeper water.

From here you can watch the ships pass by. Once in a while a tugboat sails from San Nicolaas on the southeast end of the island, where the refinery is, to the harbor at Oranjestaad, which is more centrally located. These tugboats assist the cruise ships and cargo vessels calling there. You can wave to them and sometimes they’ll give you a whistle back.

I came to this place in 1995. I pulled over, looked at the beach and surrounding area. I thought, “I could live here.” It was a goal that took me a long time to accomplish. But all that hard work was worth it. The good things in life are worth waiting for. (You’ve heard that one before, I know, but it is true.) Don’t rush it. Don’t get discouraged. Stay the course, weather the storm, and get where you want to go and take the ones you love with you. One of my characters in An Island Away sets out to do this. Sorry, I can’t reveal what happens without ruining the story.

After a brief interlude to talk about some other things, I’ll post a few more views of the interior of the island that are just as appealing this one, as well as some more beautiful sunsets.

Published in: on June 16, 2008 at 11:39 pm  Comments (1)  
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San Nicolaas, Aruba

Let’s go back to Aruba for a minute. In this post I have a few pictures of San Nicolaas, the town where most of my novel, An Island Away, takes place. These photos aren’t the greatest but they show an authentic Caribbean town that has yet to be taken over by huge resorts mobbed by trinket trollers. It’s tough to put tourist infrastructure here given the presence of the oil refinery that stands shoulder to shoulder with the town. I don’t mind oil refineries. I used to work on tugboats and much of our work was done around the tankers and docks at refining facilities.

This first photo was taken on Rogersstraat looking to the south, southeast.

There’s no glamor here but plenty of character. I first came to this street in 1994. At the end, just out of the frame, is the main gate to the refinery. On the left are a series of bars. There is a Chinese restaurant in American Bar. The old guy that used to cook there (he passed away in 2007) would make “anything soup” for my pals and I at about three in the morning. Further down was another bar called Tropicana. A guy I knew only as Mikey used to own it. My friend Rob caught some fish during one of our trips. We fried up the fish, fed Mikey, his wife, and everyone in the bar that night. What a good time!

Here’s another shot, this one of Main Street, looking south. It was taken in December; that’s why the Christmas decorations are up.

Again, you may be thinking that there is nothing remarkable in the frame. The fact that there isn’t is testament to the authenticity of this town. So many places in the Caribbean have been sterilized, as if a tourist sees an equipment rental shop or a repair garage or a bottling works they’ll go screaming back to the cruise ship. I don’t believe that. I find daily life interesting. It’s not the same the world over. There are different customs, different beliefs, different ways of doing what we all need done. Seeing the mechanics of a society doesn’t turn me off from exploring their cultural triumphs. I appreciate that we all have to get our hands dirty. (Mea cupla here: Charlie’s Bar is just past that tree, but it was a sailor bar before becoming tourist shrine, so that doesn’t count.)

Here’s on more, further down Main Street:

The tall pastel colored building on the left used to be the Hotel Marchena. On a website called Lago-Colony.com I found a travel brochure for Aruba from 1954. It advertised rates at the Marchena for $8 -$10 single and $15 – $17 double. It also mentioned that Aruba was only “four hours from Miami.” Today, travel time from Miami is a little more than two hours fifteen minutes. From New York City, a flight lasts a little more than four hours. My, how times have changed.

In future posts, I’ll be documenting the people and businesses I frequently visit in Aruba. Without exception, I have been welcomed to these places with gracious hospitality, and I’m grateful to everyone for doing so. They allow me into their lives, providing a never ending stream of story material. My only wish is that I live long enough to write it all down.

I’d like to hear about the places you’ve been and experiences you had there. Please leave comments, links, or both.

Published in: on June 16, 2008 at 6:16 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Wind Power

With the price of oil what it is today, there are all kinds of people talking about alternative energy. In Spain there are windmills all over the place. The ones in the photo below happen to be the modern kind that make electricity but there are also the old ones that mill grain or pump water.

These magnificent machines go a long way to provide for Spain’s electricity needs. The amazing part is they make very little noise. From where I was standing in this photo, you could barely hear them. At another location, there were literally hundreds of windmills and barely a sound came from them. I thought this can’t be true; they have to make noise. I spoke with an engineer who specializes in windmills and he explained that the windmills are not “loud” per se. He added that the ambient noise produced by the wind itself also disguises the noise of the machine.

At the time of this writing, there are no commercial sized windmills on my beloved island of Aruba. This is unbelievable given that the trade winds, the prevailing westerly of yore, blow across the island day in and day out. There are very few times in Aruba when the wind is not blowing with enough force to turn a giant windmill. Naturally, energy prices on the island have gone into the stratosphere with the price of oil. A string of large windmills would go a long way to alleviate this problem, not to mention how it would help the environment. Similarly, it would benefit the Aruban economy by reducing the cost of energy, giving the island a competitive edge against less fortunate locales. I’ll be doing some politicking to bring this issue to the fore with my friends on the island. It makes economic sense, is good for the planet, and won’t hurt a bit. Why delay?

I decided not to delay by having a system designed for my home there. It incorporates a 1kW turbine and an 800 watt solar array. This is not very much generating capacity. However, given the constant winds and reliable sunshine it will produce enough power to generate more than 75% of my energy needs. From January through April it will most likely supply 100%. There is a battery bank which keeps the power on during times of low wind and/or sun. I’m working on a deal with my neighbor to use the power when I’m not there, which will make the system that much more affordable for both of us. As soon as these pieces are in place I’ll ship the parts to the island and start getting a nice return on the investment.

Published in: on June 16, 2008 at 12:01 pm  Comments (1)  
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